Paleontology Museum of Naples

The Paleontology Museum of Naples , located along the west side of the seventeenth-century monastic complex of Saints Marcellinus and Festus , borders the monumental church dedicated to the two saints, now deconsecrated, and the elegant late 16th century cloister.

Some of the rooms of the Paleontology Museum are embellished with majolica floors of extraordinary value made by Neapolitan masters from Reggio. Established in 1932, the Museum of Paleontology had as its first director Geremia D'Erasmo who undertook to bring into the Museum the paleontological collections and finds acquired, since the early nineteenth century, by Matteo Tondi and Arcangelo Scacchi , directors of the Real Museum Mineralogy and by Guglielmo Guiscardi and Francesco Bassani, directors of the Geology Museum, established in 1860 but no longer existing.

The paleontological heritage was soon enriched by other interesting specimens which came to the Museum in large numbers as study material sent by various researchers to Professor D'Erasmo and which remained part of the museum heritage.

The exhibition area of the Paleontology Museum of Naples is approximately 800 square meters and is divided into various rooms and houses a heritage that has almost 50,000 exhibits, including: three specimens of large marine reptiles (Ichthyosaurs), Collection of the naturalist Oronzio Gabriele Costa , represented from a precious collection of fossils from various locations in central-southern Italy.